First 'social grocery' in Munster to open in Limerick in fight against food poverty

The initiative will offer food at substantially reduced prices for those in food poverty

The initiative will be launched by Mid-West Simon in the coming year.

A new initiative by a homeless charity in Limerick city aims to offer food at a heavily subsidised price for those in need.

Midwest Simon says it will open a 'social grocery' in the next year, offering people in food poverty the chance to buy food at a heavily subsidised price.

The initiative was launched on Tuesday by the charity and academics at the University of Limerick (UL), who carried out a feasibility study on bringing the ‘social grocery’ concept to the city.

The venture, which will be the first to open in Munster, will offer subsidised or free food to those in need and also act as a “one-stop shop” by linking in with other social services.

In other jurisdictions, the initiative has been shown to reduce stigma for people in food poverty while also giving them greater ownership over what they can eat.

Midwest Simon opened a foodbank in 2014 and has seen demand for food grow since Covid-19, with around 9,000 people from across Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary availing of the facility so far this year.

Survey findings

As part of the UL study, researchers surveyed 131 people who used the foodbank and also carried out in-depth interviews with 29 respondents.

The majority of those surveyed (93%) welcomed the 'social grocery' concept as a way to save money and have more choice about what they eat.

Over half said low income was the reason they were accessing the foodbank and 58% said they sometimes lacked access to food, 9% said they did not have access to enough food, and just under 2% said they “never” had enough food.

Two interviewees also told researchers that they were unable to have a dinner every day.

“We don’t have enough food. At times when there’s very little, I try not to eat too much. I try my best to get more for my child and my husband,” one respondent told the UL researchers.

Dr Majka Ryan, from the sociology department at UL, said the study findings suggested the social grocery model should be explored in Ireland.

The majority of participants saw it as a great opportunity to save money, to improve the quality and quantity of foods available to them, and that it would give them the freedom to choose what they would eat

Eleshia Fahy, head of operations at the charity, said the study was the “first step” in the process and that the charity would now start looking for premises and talking to companies and supermarkets that were already donating to its foodbank.

“We hope that it will take no longer than a year to have this up and running,” Ms Fahy said.

The social grocery initiative, she said, would offer an alternative to the current foodbank service available by making food available at a "hugely reduced cost" and empowering people by giving them more choice and also linking in with other services.